“I wouldn’t be worried to sit next to someone with Ebola virus on the Tube as long as they don’t vomit on you or something. This is an infection that requires very close contact,” the Belgian professor said.

Some 672 people have died across west Africa in the largest ever outbreak of Ebola, prompting concerns that Ebola could spread further.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it was "most unlikely" that the disease could come to Britain, but said he was treating the outbreak as a "very serious threat".